1. Field
The present disclosure relates to dust mitigation, and more, particularly to a dust mitigation system utilizing conductive-fibers.
2. Related Art
Exploration activities preformed on the Moon by both humans and robotic spacecraft occur on a planetary surface that is comprised of unconsolidated fragmental rock material known as the lunar regolith. The lunar surface is covered by several layers of thick regolith formed by high-velocity micrometeoroid impacts, and is characterized by the steady bombardment of charged atomic particles from the sun and the stars. The lunar regolith includes rock fragments and, predominantly, much smaller particles that are generally referred to as lunar soil. From the time of their first interactions with the lunar soil, the NASA Apollo astronauts reported that the lunar soil contained abundant small particles, which have been referred to as “lunar dust” (or just “dust”). This dust had caused several anomalies during the Apollo missions because of the lunar dust's strong tendency to collect on, adhere to, or otherwise contaminate the surface of equipment that were utilized in extravehicular activity (“EVA”) operations. Today, lunar dust is formally defined as “lunar soil” particles that are smaller than 20 μm in diameter; however for the purposes of this disclosure the term “lunar dust,” “lunar soil,” or “dust” may be utilized interchangeably.
Additionally, the Apollo mission also exposed the ability of lunar dust to rapidly degrade spacesuits and impact the mission operations. As an example, the Apollo technical crew debriefings and post-mission reports include numerous references by the Apollo crews to the effects of lunar dust on a range of systems and crew activities during lunar surface operations. Among the EVA systems that were mentioned frequently by the crews in relation to possible lunar dust effects were the Apollo spacesuits that were worn during lunar surface operations. These effects included: 1) dust adhering and damaging spacesuit fabrics and system 2) mechanical problems associated to lunar dust that included problems with fittings and abrasion of suit layers causing suit pressure decay 3) vision obscuration; 4) false instrument readings due to dust clogging sensor inlets; 5) dust coating and contamination causing thermal control problems; 6) loss of traction; 7) clogging of joint mechanisms; 8) abrasion; 9) seal failures; and 10) inhalation and irritation.
As an example, in FIG. 1 an image is shown of a NASA astronaut 100 during the Apollo 17 mission weaver a lunar dust 102 coated spacesuit 104 after an EVA operation. Similarly, in FIG. 2 an image of a spacesuit 200 is shown with a hole (or rip) 202 in the knee section of the spacesuit 200 that was caused by abrasion due to the lunar dust. As such, there is a need for a system and method to mitigate (i.e., remove or minimize) dust prior to sending humans back to either the lunar surface or other similar planetary surface. Moreover, there is also a need for to mitigate dust on Earth because of dust exposed systems such as, for example, flexible solar panels and other flexible systems that may be clogged by dust.
At present, attempted solutions have proposed the utilization of both active and passive methods that have been mostly limited to utilization on rigid surfaces such as solar panels, optical planes, glass structures and thermal radiators. Unfortunately, applying these technologies for spacesuit dust removal have remained a challenge due to the complexity of spacesuit design that includes irregular contours of the spacesuit, flexible structure of the soft areas of the spacesuit and polytretrafluroethylene (as an example, TEFLON® produced by The Chemours Company of Wilmington, Del.) coated spacesuit material. As such, there is also a need for a system and method for mitigating dust that is compatible with existing fabric-materials for utilization in a spacesuit (for example ortho-fabric or emerging new flexible materials) or other devices/systems utilizing fabric-materials such as, for example, space habitats, inflatable structures, flexible and/or deployable antennas, and flexible solar panels.